Safety razor



March 7, 1944. F. J. LEWANDO SAFETY RAZOR Filed June 23, 1943 Patented Mar. 7, 1944 UNHTEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE Felix J. Lewando, Boston,

Razor C corporation of Delaw lette Safety Mass., assignor to Gilompany, Boston, Mass., a are ApplicationJune 23, 1943, Serial No. 491,957 7 Claims. ('01. 30 71) This invention relates to safety razors of the type in which a thin flexible blade is clamped for shaving between co-operating cap and guard members. The invention consists in an improved construction whereby a blade having a protective envelope or wrapper may be presented to the razor and advanced into its final shaving position and then preliminarily or temporarily held in place to afford the user an opportunity of removing the blade wrapper preparatory to clamping the blade for shaving.

The shaving edge of a thin safety razor blade is brought to such a high degree of fineness that it is extremely delicate and its keenness is likely to be destroyed if the edge is accidentally drawn across any part of the razor or the blade magazine or even theblade wrapper preparatory to shaving. Great care and considerable skill is required ordinarily on the part of the user to extract such a blade from its wrapper and present it safely in its shaving position without damage to its edge. The present invention deals with blades of a type which may be protected at the time of manufacture by being enclosed in 'a foil or paper wrapper. This wrapper overlaps and safeguards the sharp edge or edges of the razor blade and must be removed to make the edge accessible for shaving. We contemplate asafety razor so organized that the wrapped blade may be delivered directly thereto in its final shaving position and temporarily held as thus positioned while the user has only to strip the 'wrapper from the blade and withdraw it from the razor, all this being effected without danger and even without the possibility of touching the keen cutting edge of the blade.

The construction of my invention is such that the elements which have been heretofore found regularly in safety razors and with which the public-is entirely familiar may be utilized by suitable modification to perform the function of temporarily holding and releasing the blade independently of the clamping movement of the razor parts.

With this end in view an important feature of the invention consists in providing a projecting detent upon one of the blade-clamping members of the razor, the latter being shaped to bow a flexible and apertured blade interposed between them into interlocking engagement with the detent. The blade is presented in substantially fiatposition and then, as a preliminary step, bowed into engagement with the detent and so held or anchored against longitudinal movement while the user withdraws the blade wrapper.

In accordance with my invention a razor handle of usual exterior design is provided with a threaded connection with one of the bladeclampin members, preferably and as herein shown with a cap, by which the said member may be either drawn into blade-clampingposition or held in a position spaced above the blade. The other member, in this case the guard, is so constructed and arranged that it may be then freely moved toward the cap and the blade bowed into engagement with the detent. As another feature the threaded connection includes a stop which determines the extent of free movement of the blade-clamping members toward and from each other. The two members may therefore be moved toward each other under finger pressure of one hand bowing the blade and temporarily anchoring it as above explained. While the blade is so held the user may withdraw its protective cover or wrapper with the other hand and as soon as this is done the bare blade is ready to be securely clamped in shaving position.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a protected blade suitable for use with the safety razor herein shown and described;

Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the complete razor illustrating the operation of withdrawing the protective cover from a blade while the cap and guard are held under finger pressure;

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the razor in shaving condition with a blade clamped therein;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing all the component parts of the razor in exploded relation;

Fig. 5 is a view of the razor in longitudinal section on an enlarged scale corresponding to Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a view in cross-section of the razor on an enlarged scale showing the cap and guard separated; and

Fig. 7 is a similar view showing the cap and guard in fully clamped condition.-

The razor selected for illustration is of the Gillette type although the invention is not restricted to that or to any other particular type of safety razor. As herein shown, however, the razor comprises co-operating blade-clamping members of which the cap member I 0 is substantially rectangular in contour with a concave inner face from which projects a flattened stem razor, that is to say,

II and a pair of aligned blade-locating ribs l2. One end of the cap is provided with a wide notch I3 to facilitate presentation and removal of a blade from the razor. The stem II is surrounded by a detent M which is circular in cross-section and of somewhat less height than the blade-' the metal of the latter so that it is. caused to flow slightly into the perforations of the stem H as indicated in Figs. 4 and '7.

The other blade-clamping; member of the. the guard 22, is similar in outline to the cap except that it is somewhat wider. I-ts upper face is convex being, provided with; fulcrum shoulders which lie. inside the mar.- ginal edges; of the. cap ill and over which a flexible blade may; be bowed when the cap and guard; are; moved: toward each other. The, outer edges; of the guard are curved outwardly and downwardly to. form. guardbars and the upper surface of: the guard is. provided with an elongated diamond-shaped depression- 23 which affords clearance for the bladerlocating ribs I? of the cap... The. ends of. the. depression 23. are slotted to. accommodate the outer ends of the ribs l2. The guard. 22 ispermanently. secured to the upper end or a sleeve It having a collar which engages the outer or underiace oi the guard. The upper end of this collar is spun into a slightly countersunk perforation in the guard.

The razor handle comprises an elongated barrel= H having a shouldered internally threaded portionl8 which is engaged with the threaded portion of the stemsection l of the cap. The handle is provided in its upper end with a longitudinal bore or bearing for the sleeve It. The sleeve 5- with'itsattached guard is freely movable longitudinally in this bearing when permitted todo so. The stem is' threaded into thet-hreaded portion l8 of the barrel i-l' and a stop screw ill with an enlarged head is then inserted in the end of the stem section iii and arranged to bear upon a shoulder in the barrel l-1 which marks the lower end of they threaded portion: l-8'- when they cap and guard occupy their positions of maximum separation. The screw it may be reachedby a screw driver inserted 1ongitudinally'in thebore of the barrel, ii when it is desired to assemble the razor parts as above described:

In Figs. 1 and l are shown ablade of suitable design for use with the illustrated safety razor.- The blade is double-edged, constructed of'thin flexible steel corners to provide elongated unsharpeneil end portions. The blade isv provided withv an. open. ended slot 218 which includes several enlargements, of. which thev central. aperture is, designed to fit the circular. orE cylindrical. detent it of the cap. The, blade is herein shown as protected by folded cover. 2] of. paper or foil extending. beyond the sharpened edges of the blade and. shaped to leave the blade slot 26 unobscured.

Whenit is desired to insert a blade in the razor. the handle barrelis rotated in a: counter-clock.- wise;- direction. elevating thestep li -l5 and: its cap, until arrestedmya the.- stop screw l 9..

and recessed at each of its.

and guard thus positioned and that the protected blade may now be inserted endwise in flat condition without disturbing its protective cover 21. In this movement of presentation the open-ended slot permits the sides of the blade to pass upon opposite sides of the flattened portion of the stem above. the end of the cylindrical stem section l5. When the protected blade has been thus positioned in the razor the cap and guard are squeezed together by the fingers of the lefthand as indicated in Fig. 2. In response to this pressure the guard 22 and its sleeve I6 are moved upwardly, the sleeve l6 sliding freely in the bore ofthe handlebarrel l1. Consequently, the interposedblade 25' is bowed so that its central aperture becomes interlocked with the detent I4 and the blade is thus positively locked against longitudinal movement. This is the condition of the razor as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 5. The user may nowengage the projecting end of the cover l2 and withdraw it from the blade leaving the latter located safely in its shaving position. Finally the-handle barrel H isrotated in a clockwise direction and the threaded stem ll-l5- with the cap member It is drawn downwardlyuntil the biade is positively clamped in transversely curved position as shown. in Fig. 7. In this position it will be noted that the head of the stop screw I9 is separated from the shoulder" represents the cap it will be apparent defining the threaded portion 18 in the razorhandle.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A safety razor comprising cap and guard members, one of which has a projecting detent. and the other a substantially convex. blade-supporting surface, a threaded. spindle rotatable to draw said members into blade' clamping relation or to release them for relative movement toward or from. each other in a limited. definite path. under finger pressure, whereby an interposed. perforated blade may be bowed. into interlocking engagement with said detent. and so: held while a protective cover is, withdrawn from the blade;

2 A. safety razor comprising cap. and guard membersshapedtobow a.fl'exible and perforatedblade interposed between them, one ofv said mem-- bers having a. detent, and screw threaded connections. for drawing said members together, said connections being. releasable to free the. said members. for limited. relative movementv toward. and from each other under finger pres-sure to bow abladeinto engagement. withlsaid. detent.

3. A safety. razor comprising capv and guard: members shaped-to how a flexible andv perforatedblade interposed. between them, the; cap having; a shallow projecting detent, on its: innersface and a handle havinga threaded connectionwith. the cap member by whiclrthe. caprmay'be held.- in a blade-clamping. position or in a position. spaced above the blade. the guard being: then movable-toward. the. cap whereby the; blademay;

he bowed. into engagement with: said: detent.

4=. A safety" razor. comprising cap. and guard. members shapedtoibow a flexible and-.perforateda. blade interposed between them, the cap member having a detent: on its inner face;a handle:con:- nected tothe guardmember andhavingzan ternally threaded portiomand athreaded stenr. on the. cap engagedwith: the; handle.- and. having:

a stop: limiting; the separation of the: capifrozm the guard member, and means for guiding the guard member for movement toward the cap for preliminarily bowing a, blade into engagement with said detent.

5. A safety razor comprising cap and guard mbers shaped engaged with the threaded part thereof, and a stop screw in the end of the stem for limiting and guard while leaving them free to be moved together to bow a blade into engagement with said detent.

6. A safety razor comprising cap and guard members shaped to bow an apertured flexible blade interposed between them, the cap having a detent and a threaded stem, the guard having the handle, the guard meanwhile being movable between the cap and handle.

FELIX J. LEWANDO. 

